Posts from the ‘SOG’ Category

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL
If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com, you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and send it to a service person who is currently serving in Iraq . You can’t pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services..
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and only takes a second.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our service men and women received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers need to know we are behind them.
This takes just 10 seconds and it’s a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time, and then pass it on to others. We can never say enough thank you’s.

While Barack Obama is basking in praise for his “decisive” handling of the Somali pirate attack on a merchant

ship in the India Ocean, reliable military sources close to the scene are painting a much different picture of the incident – accusing the president of employing restrictive rules of engagement that actually hampered the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips and extended the drama at sea for days.

Multiple opportunities to free the captain of the MaerskAlabama from three young pirates were missed, these sources say – all because a Navy SEAL team was not immediately ordered to the scene and then forced to operate under strict, non-lethal rules of engagement.

They say the response duty office at the Pentagon was initially unwilling to grant an order to use lethal force to rescue Phillips. They also report the White House refused to authorize deployment of a Navy SEAL team to the location for 36 hours, despite the recommendation of the on-scene commander.

The White House also turned down two rescue plans offered up by the Seal commander on the scene and the captain of the USS Bainbridge.

The SEAL team operated under rules of engagement that required them to do nothing unless the hostage’s life was in “imminent’ danger.

In fact, when the USS Bainbridge dispatched a rigid-hull inflatable boat to bring supplies to the Maersk Alabama, it came under fire that could not be returned even though the SEAL team had the pirates in their sights. Many hours before the fatal shots were fired, taking out the three young pirates, Phillips jumped into the Indian Ocean with the idea of giving the snipers a clear target. However, the SEAL team was still under orders not to shoot. Hours later, frustrated by the missed opportunities to resolve the standoff, the commander of the Bainbridge and the captain of the Navy SEAL team determined they had operational authority to evaluate the risk to the hostage, and took out the pirates at the first opportunity – finally freeing Phillips. The G2 Bulletin report was authored by Joseph Farah, founder and editor of WND, and a veteran newsman with extensive military sources developed over the last 30 years.

America lost a good one this month. Retired US Army Lieutenant General William Yarborough, 93, passed away. Bill Yarborough was a veteran of three wars: WW II, Korea, and Vietnam. He was a highly decorated paratrooper and is considered by many one of the most imaginative, innovative combat leaders that America has ever produced. Yarborough came of age at the defining moment of the 20th century, the onset of the Second World War.

Hitler’s army used large-scale paratroop drops for the first time in history. Washington agreed that America desperately needed a similar capability. Yarborough volunteered for the Army’s airborne test unit at Ft. Benning, GA. From the onset he began to put his mark on the new unit. Over time he designed the paratrooper uniform and an eponymous knife. Most importantly, he helped formulate the tactics and strategy that came with this remarkable new unit.

Many of the early members of the Airborne are justifiably famous in American military lore. They were a tough, capable, colorful group — the kinds of men that one would expect to be drawn into a profession where they expected to be scattered behind enemy lines and completely surrounded before combat began. Among WWII paratroopers it was commonly assumed that 80-90% casualties would be the norm and that few would survive the war. Yet soldiers volunteered by the thousands and trainers made it extraordinarily difficult for even a percentage of those volunteers to pass the tough initiation. Universally, the comments from the time were that “if I have to go into combat, I want to have the best fighting men beside me,” as primary motivation for joining. The extra $55 per month of jump pay, almost doubling a private’s meager pay, didn’t hurt either.

Making it into the paratroops was a challenge. Training was as tough as anything any other units conducted. Men worked from pre-dawn till late into the evening. Exhaustion, inability to meet physical fitness standards, lack of motivation, and a plethora of injuries washed most of the volunteers from the program. In those early days, safety was considered secondary to proficiency, experimentation was the watchword of the day, and training fatalities were much higher than they are today. Cynical, fatalistic paratroop songs such as the famous Blood on the Risers, with its refrain of “gory, gory, what a helluva way to die!” became the anthem of the Airborne. Those few who graduated won the right to tuck their uniform trousers into their paratrooper boots and pin on the coveted jump wings. Both items, by the way, were designed by Bill Yarborough.

While most Americans are familiar with the massive paratroop drops associated with the Normandy invasion few are aware of the many jumps made in the Pacific and the early use of the Airborne in the North Africa campaign. In one of the first jumps in Europe, Yarborough was attached to the 507th Parachute Infantry (“Geronimo”) commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Edson Raff. Based in England, Yarborough helped conceive a drop into Tunisia that would be the first major American paratroop deployment of the war. John Duvall, director of the Airborne and Special Warfare Museum in Fayetteville, NC, credits Yarborough with operational conception.

“That jump had Yarborough’s fingerprints all over it,” Duvall says. Unlike most headquarters-bound staff officers, Yarborough formulated the operational plan and then volunteered to accompany the attack as an “observer.” It would have been tough to keep Yarborough out of that operation without tying him up.

Yarborough was a gutsy combat leader, an indefatigable planner, and a rare military visionary. One of the more famous stories involving Yarborough came in the early 1960s, when he was a three-star general in change of the newly forming Special Forces at Ft. Bragg. In those days the whole concept of Special Forces was still a tough sell, particularly to the more conservative, traditional Army leadership who viewed elite units with suspicion. Some, like chief of staff of the Army General Johnson, commented that it was “inefficient to have that much talent aggregated into one unit,” and that the Army would be better served by “distributing the men among the regular Army.”

From almost the earliest days of Special Forces there was a desire to enhance what some saw as a declining sense of esprit de corps in the post-Korean War army. Colonel Raff, now commanding the 77th Special Forces group pushed for a new headgear — the Green Beret — as a tribute to the unique nature of Special Forces. Simultaneously the 82nd Airborne Division was attempting to have a red beret authorized for the paratroop units. Department of Army turned down both requests. For several years the Beret was exiled to Special Forces groups in Germany and Okinawa who wore it without authorization.

When Bill Yarborough took command of the expanding Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg in early 1960 he had his soldiers wear the Beret. Following the presidential election of 1960 an advisor to the new President John F. Kennedy, General Maxwell Taylor, a decorated combat Airborne commander, urged the new president to visit Ft. Bragg to learn what the paratroops were capable of doing. Prior to the visit, word came to Yarborough from the White House: have your troops dressed in the Green Beret for the president’s visit.

However, Yarborough had been ordered by the XVIIIth Airborne Corps commander, a 3 star, and Chief of Staff of the Army, a 4 star (both of whom were his superiors) not to have the troops in beret. In defiance of policy directives, Yarborough had the troops standing proudly, wearing their Berets. After an impressive series of demonstrations JFK asked Yarborough, “How do your men like those Berets?”

“They like them just fine, Sir,” Yarborough replied.

“Wear them with pride,” said the President. That took care of objections to the Beret from anyone lower in the chain of command than the Commander in Chief. Not long after that famous October 1961meeting, Kennedy issued a statement that spoke of the Green Beret as “a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, and a mark of distinction, in the fight for freedom.” Since his assassination and internment at Arlington National Cemetery, a Green Beret has rested on JFK’s gravesite. Years later, Yarborough participated in ceremonies presenting a Green Beret at the Kennedy Presidential Library.

General Bill Yarborough was a quintessential American soldier: smart, courageous, innovative, and daring. He had a significant part in American military history that deserves to be remembered and cherished.

SFC Michael S. McElhiney isn’t a hero because of the Bronze Star Medal with “V” Device and Purple Heart on the left pocket of his battle dress uniform. Like other soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) who received awards from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki at a Fort Campbell, Ky., ceremony for their service in Afghanistan, he’ll tell you that medals don’t really make heroes. What makes SFC McElhiney heroic is the fight he’s in now and the way he’s waging it.
He received his awards with an empty BDU sleeve at his side. He lost his right hand and part of his forearm to the errant bomb blast that killed three Special Forces (SF) soldiers on a hill outside Kandahar. His left arm suffered nerve damage, and he also was hit in the chest.He was well enough to leave Walter Reed Army Medical Center and attend the award ceremony, but he returned to continue rehabilitation soon after it was over. SFC McElhiney faces a long, hard comeback.“You wish it didn’t happen to you, but that isn’t a regret,” he said. “We’re all volunteers in Special Forces, and there is no better unit to serve with,” he said, explaining that he knew what he was getting into when he put on the Green Beret and what could happen. He said that he went to Afghanistan with the attitude that it was “payback for the American people.”“I feel sorry for the loss of teammates,” he added.SFC McElhiney’s wife, Judy, is his ally in the fight. She’s a Special Forces wife, through and through. “This is the first time that Special Forces has been recognized this way,” Mrs. McElhiney said following the ceremony. “The Army has taken really good care of us during this,” she said.

“Mike has been given the option to stay in,” she added, “but we’ll figure that out when he’s finished rehabilitation. Regardless, he’ll stay in the SF community in some way. He might be involved in training or liaison work…something like that,” she explained.

SFC McElhiney and his teammate from Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 574, SFC Ronnie L. Raikes were in high demand for television interviews following the ceremony… largely because of their unfortunate circumstances of being the most severely and visibly wounded of the soldiers receiving awards.

SFC Raikes wore BDUs, too, because he was on temporary release from treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His right arm was in an elaborate brace because of nerve damage he received in the accidental bombing. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal.

Gen. Shinseki awarded the 5th Special Forces Group soldiers their Bronze Star Medals and Bronze Star Medals with “V” (for valor) at the Fort Campbell ceremony. SFC Gilbert Magallanes Jr., remained hospitalized for treatment of his wounds.
The ceremony honored the soldiers who were involved in the accidental bombing incident and those who helped put down the prison revolt at Mazar-e-Sharif and who returned to the United States because of their wounds. Other Special Forces members will be honored when they return from the fighting.

During one of the many television interviews, SFC Raikes said, “We don’t consider ourselves heroes. Our families are heroes. The people supporting us back in the States are heroes.”

SFC Raikes said the accidental bombing incident was just that…an accident.

“Accidents happen,” he said. “I just hope it’s the last accident that happens. It was a freak accident, and it
just happened to us. Everybody’s not perfect…and everything is not peaches and cream wherever we go. I’m just glad that SF and the Army let us do our job in Afghanistan.”

What surprised every soldier at the ceremony was the support of the American people they received when they came home.
“Until I got back, I didn’t realize how intense the support was,” SFC Raikes said. “It’s overwhelming, and it’s great to have the support of the American people.” SFC McElhiney said, “I think the support of the American people has always been there, but sometimes it takes a disaster like September 11 to bring it out.”

“I have never seen so many American flags,” SFC Raikes added. “We are proud to have gone to Afghanistan to take care of these people who attacked America. And we’re going to get the bad guys, including bin Laden. They won’t get away with it.”

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey C. Lambert, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne), spoke at the awards ceremony. Talking about the accomplishments of his soldiers in Afghanistan, he said, “They had to conquer the differences in language, culture and religion, and they had to conquer centuries of differences in technology…
and finally they had to conquer the Taliban, and they’ve done that.”

SFC McElhiney said, “We’re doing this now so people can live without fear later. That’s in everybody’s hearts. I know that’s what was in my heart.”

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Look homeward, “change agents:” My #nationalwalkoutday message by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2018 Here is my homework assignment for all the fist-clenching, gun control-demanding teenagers walking out of classrooms this week (and next week and next month) to protest school shootings: Ask not what the rest of the country can do for your loca […]

Give VA Secretary David Shulkin the boot by Michelle Malkin Creators Syndicate Copyright 2018 Will the VA scandal never end? While the Department of Veterans Affairs secretary lives high on the hog and his lying chief of staff resigns in disgrace while escaping any punishment, legions of vets every day in this country are denied […]

Longtime readers may remember that on this day seven years ago, my cousin Marizela (“Em Em) Perez went missing near her college campus at the University of Washington in Seattle. The shock and horror never wear off. The investigation is at a standstill. But our Find Marizela website is still up. Someone somewhere might remember […]